Mammoth Hot Springs is in Yellowstone National Park near the North Entrance, just south of Gardiner, Montana.
Driving up to Mammoth Hot Springs, you’ll see the white hills rising up out of the scenery as you look for a place to park nearby! This attraction is very popular so parking can get pretty full. We went early in the morning and were able to find a spot without too much trouble! When you walk up to the springs area you’ll be greeted with the smell of rotten eggs and Liberty Cap, one of the features in the Lower Terrace.
Across the boardwalk from the Liberty Cap, you’ll see Devil’s Thumb. The “thumb” looks like it’s pushing up from the ground among the terraces of travertine. Water from the hot springs runs down the terraces. The water shimmers along the hillside and makes the most soothing sounds as it runs by.
A boardwalk winds its way around the different terraces for about 1 3/4 miles. There is some elevation change with stairs, but the path stays along a boardwalk. The formations are made up of travertine and the colors in the water are created by algae and bacteria. The different bacteria that survives at different temperatures in the water creates the different colors you see.
Angel Terrace on the Upper Terrace is covered with a fine white powder. The hot springs are steaming and the water pools and runs down the hillside. Visiting this site surrounded by mountains and steaming ground is surreal. Can you imagine being an explorer and coming upon this land?!? I can’t even imagine what I might have thought was causing the earth to shimmer and steam!
We took about 3 hours to go through the area, but we stopped and took a lot of pictures. Other pages say you can move through the area in about an hour. We visited the area in July. It started out cool in the morning, but by noon it was pretty toasty. I’d recommend sunscreen and bringing along a water bottle!
We were off to grab a picnic next to the Gardner River.
To see more of the images we captured while we were visiting Mammoth Hot Springs, check out our video on YouTube! Feel free to subscribe to the channel to see more footage from Yellowstone National Park.
Mammoth Hot Springs is a must see stop at Yellowstone National Park! Have you visited Yellowstone or are you planning a trip? Leave a comment to let us know what you did while you were there or where you’re excited to visit when you go!
Our next stop at Yellowstone was Undine Falls and Wraith Falls on the Grand Loop Trail. Check our our blog post to continue on our adventure!
[…] RV Park and the next day we explored a corner of the park near the North Entrance, visiting Mammoth Hot Springs, Undine Falls, and Wraith Falls. Gardiner, MT has a few different companies that offer rafting […]
[…] to Yellowstone National Park, we spent the first day in the north corner of the park, visiting the Mammoth Hot Springs, Undine Falls and Wraith Falls, and doing a rafting trip down the Yellowstone River. Our first […]